General Cable is acquiring the copper manufacturing portion of Draka Holding's Comteq business in North America.
General Cable (Highland Heights, KY, www.generalcable.com) plans to continue operations at Comteq's (www.drakaholding.com) location in Franklin, MA, where optical-fiber and copper cable are manufactured.
Paul Montgomery, vice president of finance and investor relations for General Cable, says the deal is still in the early stages, but acknowledges that General Cable is only interested in the copper portion of the Comteq operation.
"We are not taking the fiber," says Montgomery, who guardedly notes that the move will help General Cable expand its electronics business.
"I'd just say they are a good company, that they've got some good stuff, and we are going through due diligence to figure out what part we are going to take," says Montgomery.
Greg Lampert, General Cable's vice president and general manager of Carol Brand Products, says: "The acquisition should significantly expand our position and capabilities in a number of high value-added product areas."
According to Jim Barney, General Cable's senior vice president and general manager of communications, "The assets will also support the high-end data cable growth we expect as a result of our recently announced alliance with Panduit Corp." In November, General Cable announced a new alliance with connectivity manufacturer Panduit (Tinley Park, IL; www.panduit.com). This move led to the introduction of the end-to-end PanGen Structured Cabling Solutions.
General Cable says it is making the purchase because Comteq's Franklin, MA operation has strong technical and manufacturing capabilities in electronic cables, as well as high-end data products. Through the agreement, General Cable will obtain Comteq's well-known Helix and Hi-Temp brands.
Sale completion is scheduled for the first quarter of this year. The acquisition price for the manufacturing equipment and intellectual property will be in the range of $5 to $10 million, and is expected to bring annual productive capacity of approximately $35 to $40 million.
